Can I Borrow Your Scarf?
by Pinstripes
Summary: Axl is alone and miserable. Is there anyone else as equally depressed as our selfproclaimed Sex God Blonde Bomber? Shounen ai, fluff and stupid plots ahoy. Yay!
1. Realisation

_OOC: Yeah Zato dies, what of it? Venom and Zato deserve happy endings. He lives in this fic. No buts people! THIS IS FINAL. No ranting at me for this or my strange taste in pairings either. And umm… Who's Megumi? shifty eyes No I haven't seen her since that freak lightening rod/thunder incident..._

Axl scowled. Why were Ky and Sol so happy together? They had their little tiffs and Ky got plenty pissed with Sol but they seemed really happy together. Sort of… Complete in a way. They looked good together and obviously _felt_ good together so why couldn't Axl just do that? Seeing those two made him feel all empty inside, like something was really missing. He knew what but he didn't know what he could do about it. Even Zato and Venom seemed happy. And Zato had been ignoring Venom as a love interest for god knows how long! Why was everybody so bloody happy apart from _him?_

He sighed, slouching down in his chair on the bus. He hated public transport. Especially buses. He hated everything right now. He just wanted to grab his bandana and hang himself there and then. But then again, the bus driver would probably try and fine him for something stupid that he hadn't even done half way through. And _then_ he'd say that a bandana wasn't very good for hanging people and he should use the safety handles instead. Axl closed his eyes.

_Think positive thoughts Axl; think positive, happy, bunny-rabbits skipping through fields before being mashed by a combine harvester, positive thoughts…_

For some reason this didn't help.

He didn't get much time to beam happy thoughts to himself though. Someone jabbed him sharply in the arm. He opened an eye lazily. Maybe this was the love of his life he'd been waiting for…?

He hoped not. A sour-faced man glared at him. "Whossamatter with you then?" He smelt rather like dogs in the middle of a rainstorm after rolling around in cow dung. Not that Axl knew what this particular odour smelt like, he was just guessing.

"Pfft, bugger off."

"Jeeze, I was just asking…" And the man wandered off, returning to his seat across the bus.

Well he'd certainly need a better approach if he wanted to find that special someone. Yes, Axl Low, sex god and blonde bomber (In his own mind at least. He was curious to know how many people thought of him in that way exactly and how well their medication was going.), was looking for love. "Shouldn't be too hard…" He muttered to himself, gazing at the slowly clearing sky as he stepped off the bus.

He had spoken too soon. The clouds seemed to burst and it began to pour down. There were already puddles from the last shower and as the bus drove off, water flew up and soaked him through from the ankles to his stomach. He swore, then tried to compose himself. It couldn't get too much worse. And then, somewhere in the background, thunder cracked and lightening flashed. Axl glowered, brushed a strand of hair out of his face and stomped along the road, wishing he'd had the sense to bring an umbrella of sorts.

-One Hour and Twenty Minutes Later-

Axl reviewed his actions over the last hour. Basically he'd been soaking in a nice hot bath that had taken ages to get the temperature right and this perfection of bathwater was now only lukewarm. Oh well. At least it smelt nice. He had used up half a bottle of bubble bath and had almost drowned in the massive sea of froth he had managed to create. He leant against the edge of the bath, sighing. He'd been half asleep most of the while, but the shower head had just fallen on his head and he was sure he'd have a nice big bruise there in the 'morrow.

Now he was properly focused- Well, sort of. He was still angsting after the bruise that could possibly appear- he went back to thinking about his search to fill the emptiness. God that sounded pathetic. He wrinkled his nose, sighing softly. "This is so pointless…" He muttered. "I'm just moping around sulking because I'm a lonely old git." He said aloud to no one in particular. Hmm. He paused. Maybe the steam was getting into his brain and clogging up his thoughts and therefore making him talk to himself.

Oh dear, definitely time to get out.

-Another Twenty Minutes Later-

"Ooookay then. That's much better."

The whir of the hairdryer was comforting. Sure it was loud and even a little irritating sometimes but it blotted out the sound of him talking to himself. He was sat on the floor by his bed, sorting through CDs and drying his hair at the same time. This really wasn't helping him much at all but… He needed something to cheer him up after all. He couldn't go around like this; he'd go blue and melt. Or at least that's what his mother had told him. He shoved a CD in the CD player at random and pressed play. For the next few minutes he belted out 'It's so Easy' along with it.

He felt a little better for it actually.

He switched off the hairdryer and played with his hair. It had gone all fuzzy. He frowned and brushed it down a little, sitting up on the bed instead of the floor. "I'm so helpless." He announced. "I can't do a thing with any part of me." He was doing it again. Axl shuddered and quickly gave his hair a quite brush over and switched off the light.

Hopefully sleeping would reduce the probability of him talking to himself. He was feeling unhappy and grumpy but he couldn't help that. His chest felt all blocked and he was all achy. Was this what being the only person not in love was doing to him? Either that or he had a slight case of flu from being in the rain. He was hoping for the latter.


	2. Dreams

Axl blinked, yawning… "Let me sleeeeeppp…" He murmured... Someone was… "Ow! Stop that!" He tried to move his arm to slap whoever was poking him in the back of his head. He couldn't move! He struggled violently, yelling for all he was worth. Suddenly, a finger flicked his ear.

"For god's sake stop it; you're giving me a headache."

Axl turned around, eyes wide. "Sol!" And there the bounty hunter was, standing behind him, a tight grip on one of the belts on the straight jacket Axl appeared to be wearing and a cigarette in the other hand. "Wait! I shouldn't been dreaming about you! You've got a boyfriend!"

Sol shrugged. "I have a nice butt."

"True."

There was a short, awkward silence. Sol stubbed his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoes. "Okay. Let's get this show on the road." He yanked Axl to his feet, "We've got a lot to cover in one night."

The Brit frowned. "So… You're not here to have mad, passionate sex with me?" He asked cautiously, trying to get out of the straight jacket. _That's it Axl, just pretend you don't want to…_

Sol snorted and pushed him forwards with one finger. "Just keep moving."

"Umm… Yeah. Okay. I can do that." So much for sex god/blonde bomber (He seriously believed that.). He felt a five year old. Or a lunatic. Or maybe both. Creepy. The straight jacket didn't help. "Don't suppose you could loosen this a little? I can't feel my fingers."

Another snort. "What do you need fingers for? This is a dream!"

Axl pondered this for a minute, "Good point."

They walked on for goodness knows how long. Axl was starting to doze off. Suddenly he walked into something. This something was cold, hard and shiny. He opened an eye. A… Car? A very old, battered car actually. "Ew, this piece of junk's yours? I'd thought you of all people would have something like a motorcycle. This is… A vicar car! It's even blue!"

"I beg your pardon!"

Axl frowned and twisted his head back. Oh dear. Wrong phrase, wrong time. "Um, hey, Ky."

"Just get in the car, please…" He sounded exasperated, "And be quick about it. I'm due in Sol's dream in ten minutes."

"Aw, cute." Axl got in the car. Miraculously without the use of his arms.

"I wish it was cute." Ky muttered and got in next to him and the car began to drive itself away.

"Hm?" He grinned. "What kind of stuff does _Sol_ dream about involving you then?"

The knight went pink. "That's none of your business!" He snapped, facing the window in a strop.

He giggled, "Let's think… Bondage? Hmm… How about-"

Ky spun around and tightened the straight jacket with such speed it made him gaspas the oxygen was forced out of him. "That's quite enough of that Axl." He muttered, scowling. The awkward silence returned again. He would have asked where they were going but talking would mean loosing some of his air supplies. The car came to a jerky halt, spluttering. "Okay, up you get…"

He got up obediently. Maybe he'd loosen the jacket if he was good boy. "So… Where… Am… I?" He wheezed, panting for air.

"You'll find out soon enough." He answered, marching him through the white hall that appeared out of no where. "I hope you'll find this dream at least a little helpful, otherwise I'll have been wasting my time." He was talking to himself now, drifting off into a little rant about how often he actually wastes his own time and all that jazz. Axl was actually starting to enjoy setting him off with little things that irritated him when they stopped in a large hall. Ky smiled wearily. "Here we are." He frog-marched the other to the centre of the room.

There was a ring of chairs with random people sat in them. He didn't recognise most of them but it was hard to ignore the person standing up. The person in the white jacket. "Faust!" Axl managed, sitting down at a spare seat, "What're you doing here!"

Faust beamed at him. "Now Axl, calm down." He turned to the person next to Axl, a short girl with brown hair. "Go ahead and start now."

The girl stood up, twitching slightly. She looked nervous, twisting a strand of hair around one finger. Everyone in the circle looked at her expectantly, smiling like complete lunatics. It was extremely off-putting. She took a deep breath and said, "Hello. My name's Helen."

"Hello Helen!"

"And I'm a loveless loser." Everyone clapped and the person next to her patted her on the back.

"Now you Axl." Faust nodded at him, writing something down on the paper attached to the clipboard he was holding.

Axl frowned. "Hey, I'm no loveless loser I'm-" He stopped and thought about it. And thought about some more. Oh god. He really _was_ a loveless loser! All of this achy chest and jealousy and depression! It had to be it! He stood up. "Hello. My name is Axl."

"Hello Axl!"

"And I'm a loveless loser."

They all clapped. And clapped. And then someone burst through the door. "Axl?" Axl stared… Who was it? He couldn't make the person out exactly…

The people in the circle started whispering, hissing. Something about lying to them. Faust looked and him and gave him an apologetic look and then he fell through the floor and crashed into nothingness.

--

Axl shot up, breathing heavily. He was sweating. Damn those falling dreams! He was lying on the floor, face-down on the carpet. He swore softly, sitting up and clambering back onto his bed. He blew a strand of hair out of his face, frowned, then yanked the blanket back around himself. He hated falling dreams… Hated them…


	3. MASH

_LOW FAT YOGHURT_

_GIANT BAR OF CHOCOLATE (preferably with nuts)_

_FLEA POWDER_

Axl did a double take, frowning. "Flea Powder, what the hell's that about?" He scribbled it off. Flea powder. He snorted, almost dropping the basket he was holding. Flea. Powder. He giggled softly, clutching the list even tighter and trying not to burst out laughing. _Flea…_He gave himself a little slap, frowning. Curse not being able to sleep! This always happened when he didn't get enough sleep. He got all delirious and found really weird things hilarious. But… Flea Powder! "Heh… Heheheheh…" Axl shoved the list in his pocket, chuckling softly and putting the packet of flea powder back whilst trying to ignore the strange looks he was getting.

Flea Powder. That was a good one…

He brushed his hair back behind his ear and pushed his bandana out of his face. He had been so tired that morning he'd tied it on crooked and too loose and spilt most of his milk to the side of his tea rather than in it.

He stepped into a queue, hooking the basket through his arm. What a bizarre dream it had been though. He was ore accustomed to dreams where some weirdo in a dress said he was going to eat his left ear lobe… But let's not go into that. That was the last time he used a hair dryer before going to bed. Even if it _did_ give a lovely silken finish™.

He had spent most of the night after he'd woken up terrified a hole was going to open up in his bed and swallow him alive. He shuddered and looked to the front of the queue. The woman at the till was having a little trouble. He sighed and skipped to the row next to it, pushing in front of someone. After all. He'd had a bad night. He had an excuse to be moody.

"Watch it!"

Axl blinked, turning around. "Whoops… Sorry Anji…" He murmured, shrugging and grinning lazily. "… You really are _not_ a morning person, are you?" He flicked his nose, "You're a mess."

"Save it… I had a bad night." Anji sighed, pushing his specs back into place. He did look pretty damn exhausted come to think of it. Probably not as bad as Axl but tired never the less.

"No kidding… Me too. What kept _you_ up?" _Pleeease say weird dreams, pleeeease…_

The other man shrugged limply. "A car alarm kept going off outside."

His face fell. "That's it?"

"What were you expecting?" He stepped sharply in front of him, emptying the contents of his basket onto the till.

Axl brushed off a slight sense of disappointment. What he care anyway? Anji had Chipp. Besides, Anji was a bit of a prat. He could do _much_ better than _Anji._ Axl paused, frowning. What was that? A little twitch within the depths of his heart? Axl peered ahead at the man, wondering whether he really _did_ have a long hidden passion for him. He got nothing. Axl tapped his chest, "You're weird." He muttered softly to himself, blowing a strand of hair out of his face.

"I'm what?" Anji turned round, tilting his head to one side.

"Uh, nothing."

He put his things in a bag and looked up at him, "So, Axl, what're you doing today?"

Axl shrugged, passing his chocolate over the counter and adding a packet of bubblegum to his supplies (He knew it was addictive but he couldn't help it. The wrapper was bright, shocking pink. He would have opted for green but he reconsidered, it would have made his tongue a funny colour.), "Not much. Going back to bed, breathing, you know, all that glamorous stuff… You?"

"_Ooo-kay_… I'm going out with Chipp again."

"Really?" Where did that resentment come from? He tried to hide his frown by staring at the dietary table on the back of the packet of gum. Maybe the blue one would have fewer calories.

Anji nodded, "Mmmhmm." He paused for a moment, "You don't actually _have_ a boyfriend, do you?" He asked, picking up the carrier bag.

"So?" He glowered, "I don't _want_ a boyfriend." His could feel his mouth twitch. He was lying. Badly.

"I'll leave you with that thought." He grinned and walked out in an irritatingly triumphant manner.

Axl sighed, shaking his head and paying for his things. He had a pretty good idea that he didn't much like Anji, let alone fancy him. He hooked his bag over his shoulder, musing over how complicated love was. "I bet it's only complicated for me." He muttered to himself, beginning the walk along the street. "That would be just my luck." He finished as yesterday's rain began to drizzle down again.

---

"Okay! Number three! One… Two… Three…"

He crossed out a name.

"One two three…"

He crossed out another name. Yes. Axl Low had resorted to M.A.S.H to figure out his feelings. So far he had scribbled 'ZATO/EDDIE' and 'JOHNNY' off of his list.

----For anyone who has no clue what this writer is on about, here's a quick recap of M.A.S.H. Someone picks four or five names of boys or girls, four or five names of places and four or five different numbers and write M A S H. They then pick another number at random and cross out every third name/place/number/letter until they have one of each. This shows WHO they are going to marry, WHERE they'll live and HOW many children they'll have as well as WHAT kind of house they'll live in (M Mansion A Apartment S Shed H House).----

Axl counted to three again and ticked off 'M'. He frowned. What a pain.

After five minutes of getting confused, he was done. Apparently he was going to live in a shed with Zappa and have 1000000 children. He was starting to think that writing 1000000 as a number wasn't a very sensible idea (especially considering he didn't want children. And, uh, that two men couldn't actually have children. There was that too.). He was also starting to doubt the accuracy of this method as well.

He leaned back, taking a huge bite out of the MEGA SIZE bar of chocolate. Was he ever going to sort out his love life?


	4. Be Still My Beating Heart

It was about a week on from his 'problem'.

Axl had calmed down a little. Not having a boyfriend didn't bother him as much anymore. In fact, he didn't even think about it much. 'Much' being the operative word. Subconsciously he was in a state of panic but he didn't quite realise it. Mainly because he couldn't see _who_ it was about. All he knew was that it had been there ever since he'd talked to Anji at the supermarket. To be honest, he was a little creeped out by the prospect of having a crush on _Anji._

He sighed, swinging his bags as he walked. It was his usual shopping day and he was loaded with at least ten bags containing food and strange things he felt a desire to buy because the label was pretty. After binging out on chocolate he had felt rather fat, despite only having put on a few pounds and had spent the remainder of the week on a fierce diet. It wasn't working because he had hardly put on anything anyway.

The sky was _still _looking pretty murky, despite it having been quite nice earlier.

He hastened his pace. He did _not_ want to get caught in the rain again and he still had a bus to catch so he could get home (He was taking a shortcut through the local park). He couldn't get…

Axl frowned. Someone was yelling something. And that someone sounded very, very familiar. In fact, he had only been talking about them last week. He spun around, tucking his hair behind his ear. It was definitely him. He peered into the trees, wandering slowly into the more dense part of the park.

"… Hey! Is that you Ch-"

A shuriken flew past his ear, embedding itself into the trunk. He restrained himself from shrieking.

"Watch it!" Chipp Zanuff dropped down from the tree opposite him, landing gracefully. "I could have had your head off!"

Axl put down his bags. "No you couldn't!" He snapped back, hooking one thumb in his pocket. "I saw that coming for miles." His mouth was twitching away still.

Chipp raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure you did. Just like you saw…" He lunged forward and raised a fist to punch him. Axl caught it.

"Yeah, sort of like I saw that." Axl finished, smiling widely.

"Pfft, whatever."

He stepped closer to the ninja. Oh dear. Something really was happening here. His little heart was thumping away. Axl shrugged it off as still being in shock from the shuriken almost cutting the top of his ear off. "Why're you even training in the middle of a park anyway? You don't strike me as the kind of guy to enjoy long strolls on cloudy days."

He scowled, "You want to find me somewhere else as quiet?"

"Good point."

"What're _you_ doing here?"

Axl pointed to the carrier bags. "Stocking up the fridge." His heart was still hammering away. He looked away from him and his heart rate slowed. _No, not this again…_ He tried to blot out the obvious and continued looking at the trees.

"What the hell… How much chocolate do you eat in a week anyway!"

He looked back down at Chipp, who seemed to be enjoying himself going through all of his shopping. "Hey! Get out of there, that's mine!" He snatched the bar of chocolate away from him, cradling it as if it were his own child, "Don't go through my stuff! And I don't eat THAT much chocolate!" He glared at him, but he was only joking around really.

Chipp laughed harshly, "Are you sure? You're looking a little tubby to me." He poked him in the stomach, "Yep… You're getting all flabby around the middle. Have you gained weight?"

Axl flushed. "Get off! And no I haven't!" _Have I!_ He panicked and glanced down at himself. No. He looked okay. He was wearing a loose shirt anyway. "Pick up my stuff."

"You kidding me? You carry your own things!" He argued, but picked up a bag anyway.

The Brit grinned blithely at him, and started to walk out of the park "So… How're things?"

He followed him, carrier bag slung lazily over one shoulder, "Fine, I guess… Why're you asking?"

"No reason… I heard you're going out with Anji."

Chipp nodded, "Yeah. He's not so much of a git when you get to know him."

Axl giggled guiltily, "Neither are you, you know…"

The ninja stopped and looked at him, one eyebrow raised, "Where are you going again? It's getting late if you're going to grab a bus… Or a train…"

He looked him in the eye back. _God, what lovely eyes he…_ "Bus…? What? Oh yes, bus… I need to catch a bus."

"I'll walk you to the shelter then."

Axl nodded, still not looking away from his eyes. _They're… red but sort of dark magenta around the edges… and the light makes them look… wow… And that hair… Hey… He looks… Sort of like…_ he squeaked softly, stopping in his tracks, "Omigosh!" He managed.

Chipp turned and stared at him as if he was mad, "What!"

"You look kind of like Billy Idol!" He put down a bag and tugged at his hair, "Wow, it's uncanny…"

"I look like _who_!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Nevermind… You obviously don't know anything about good music."

Chipp shook his head and started walking, "Where're you from again?"

"London." He grinned, "Where else, silly?"

"Are all English people as annoying as you?"

"Only the lucky ones, love."

The conversation kept up like that for pretty much the entire three minutes it took to walk to the bus stop. In fact, Axl was almost sorry he had to stop there. He had been rather enjoying it. And he hadn't thought about Anji bloody Mito once. That was a positive point. But that was only because his mind had been preoccupied with coming up with words to describe every inch of Chipp Zanuff. "Hey… Chipp? Where do you live?"

He shrugged, handing him the carrier bags he had been holding, "In the flats just over there… It's just a temporary thing though; I don't like being in one place too long."

Axl nodded, "Mmm, okay… Thanks for helping me and everything…" He smiled, waving "See you around."

It was almost frustrating seeing him go after the good time he had been having. He looked at the timetable for the buses. He could easily catch the bus he needed; it was leaving in ten minutes, but… He glanced at Chipp, who was wandering down the road and back at the timetable and bit his lip.

It started to rain.


	5. Tea

Chipp had been surprised to say the least when a bedraggled looking man in a red bandana turned up on his doorstep, grinning sheepishly at him. Axl had been soaked through, having just been caught out in the near-torrential rain and wind. His blonde hair was plastered to his face and his bandana only hanging on limply half over his face because of how tight the knot at been.

But, playing the good host, Chipp had stepped aside and let him dump his waterlogged shopping bags in the hallway and dry off.

Axl was sat on the floor by the couch, a cup of steaming tea clasped between both hands and a towel around his shoulders. He had been heart-broken when the ninja had put his bandana over the radiator to dry off, claiming it would give him a cold, or the flu, but eventually he had given up and let go of it.

His own clothes were in the tumble dryer and he was wearing some of Chipp's old clothes. They were too big and a little too snug around the waist. Axl had noted this. He _had_ put on some weight after all. He hadn't said much since he'd come in and was staring into his mug, trying not to catch his eye.

Chipp came back into the room, holding a cup of green tea. He stopped in front of Axl. "… So…?"

He looked up shyly, "… Mmm?"

"What happened?" He sat on the couch behind him.

"… I, er… Missed the bus… I remembered I had to go and get something and when I got back I had missed the last bus."

Oh yes. He had missed the bus alright. He had stood at the bus stop dithering between running after Chipp and going home for so long the bus had come and gone before he knew it. He knew for a fact there was a train leaving in ten minutes to where he wanted to go, but… The wicked part of him made him linger a little outside the station. In fact, he managed to 'linger' for ten whole minutes. It only took a few minutes to decide that Chipp would know what he could do for some reason though…

Chipp sighed, rolling his eyes. "Typical."

He smiled in spit of himself, reading his head on Chipp's leg. Chipp nudged him off gently. "Mmm."

"So, what were you thinking of doing?" He asked, glancing at the Brit, "I don't know if there are any trains running to where you're going."

"Neither do I…" There was one going in about half an hour. He could catch it easily. "Would… Would it be too much trouble if… er… I…"

"If you…?"

"Stayed the night?" Axl blushed, "I mean, only because I don't know when there are trains running and a cab driver wouldn't want to go all the way…" He stopped, going crimson. How that innuendo slipped out he didn't know.

Luckily, Chipp didn't appear to notice. "… Are you sure there aren't any trains running?"

"Want me to go out there and check?" Axl stood up, finishing his tea and jerking a thumb towards the rain.

He sighed and shook his head. "Fine. You can stay. You're sleeping on the couch though."

"Are you really sure?" He beamed at him, "Thanks… I really appreciate it…" He sat back next to him.

He shrugged in response. "Whatever. It's your loss. This sofa's the lumpiest bastard in the history of furniture."

Axl giggled, but then was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was right next to him, shoulders pushing against each other. It was uncomfortable but worth it. Oh yes. He had sorted out this romantically related problem of his. To think… All this time he had been harbouring a passion for_ Chipp Zanuff_! He was so… moody all the time, so unlike himself. Maybe that was what he found unbearably attractive about him. He distracted himself by changing the subject. "So… You own this place?"

"No. I rent it." He shook his head, frowning, "It's a dump. Besides, I move around a lot so it doesn't really matter."

"Oh. It's nice." Well, nice but boring. Axl stood up, tilting his head to one side. "Hmm… I'm hungry. How about I try and make something to eat?"

The 'try' part worried Chipp slightly.

--

Chipp pulled out a blanket. It was an old one, but that was a good thing. It was soft from the number of washes it had been through. They had a memory to go with every single one of them. He remembered all of them, flinching a little. He didn't know why he was hanging on to it still, there were too many bad memories attached to it. He brushed a hand over it. It was cold tonight. A little selfish impulse came over him and he took the blanket into his own room. It had too much emotional value to lend to Axl.

Axl.

He walked back to the cupboard, taking out another blanket. What to do about Axl. He had a little idea of what was going on. It was the way he looked at him when he thought he wasn't looking, in that cute but lustful way. He… had looked at someone like that before… At Anji… He smiled slightly, despite still feeling a bit of a fool lowering himself to doing something so... Not him. But something good had come out of it.

But what should he do about Axl?

He sighed, yanking out another quilt to use as a pillow. He didn't want to endorse this crush he seemed to have on him. It was bad enough he had to stay the night. He should have said no. He should have just let him stay for a few minutes and then gotten rid of him somehow. He would have to do what he could though.

When he wandered back into the living room, Axl had helped himself to a mug of hot milk. He smiled sleepily at him, blue eyes half closed. "Mum always said it was good to drink something warm before you go to bed." He explained, yawning a little.

Chipp looked at him properly. He was quite cute in a way, if you liked that sort of thing. It was probably that smile of his. It was infectious. The guy seemed to wear himself out pretty easily. He just didn't seem to stop talking sometimes. You just had to bring up one thing and he would find something about it to tell you about. He probably knew every one of his thirteen cousins and six second cousins. In fact, he could probably put them in age order.

"Whatever." He'd started to rely on those two syllables. It was the best thing to say most of the time.

He put down the mug and took one of the blankets from Chipp. "Thanks."

He began to make up a little bed on the sofa. There was more room than Axl had expected and he had almost made it look cosy. "There we go." He turned to thank Chipp, but the ninja had disappeared into the kitchen. He popped his head around the door. "Chipp…?"

He was standing by a cupboard, sorting through some boxes. Sleeping tablets. He took out one, two three, four.

"Are you okay?"

He looked up, and shrugged loosely, putting the pills in his mouth and washing them down with a glass of cold water. He looked paler than usual. Axl risked putting an arm around his shoulders. Not for himself but because he was worried. "You shouldn't take so many… You'll make yourself ill…"

Chipp went rigid as he said it and pushed him away. "Fuck off, Low." He hissed maliciously, switching off the kitchen light and stalking into the living room, turning that light off then disappearing into his bedroom.

Axl watched after him silently, gripping his elbows. That hadn't gone well. He carefully felt his way back into the other room and clambered into bed, forgetting about the milk. He was too worried to care now. But the blankets were thick and warm and somehow he managed to drift into an uneasy slumber.

--

"Shit!"

Axl opened one eye lazily. It was still dark. At first he suspected a burglar, but then his mind kicked groggily into action and he recognised the voice as Chipp's. It appeared he had tripped over the arm of the sofa.

"… Chipp? Where're you going, it's late…" He mumbled, sitting up.

"Nightmare… Woke up… Getting some more pills."

"Oh no you don't." Axl reached out and grabbed his arm as he went past and gasped softly. He was freezing cold. "Chipp… C'mere…" He yanked him a little closer, pulling him next to him on the couch. "Get in. You're freezing…" Chipp struggled for a moment, then gave in, obviously exhausted and rested his head on his chest.

"Fuck… you… Axl…" He mumbled, closing his eyes and pulling the blanket tightly around himself.

"Good night to you too Chipp."


	6. One Helluva Phone Bill

_AA: Nope. I have no idea whether there actually IS a phone on the May Ship… Call it artistic license. XD And surely with a bloody collection of them, Johnny would be able to PLAY a guitar…_

"Good morning, Chipp."

"… Morning."

Axl heaved himself up onto the kitchen work surface, swinging his legs. The other man was busy trying to get his toast out of the toaster before it burned, poking a knife about inside, "You making toast? I'll have a slice…" He commented (though he appeared not to notice), then noticing what he was doing, switched off the plug the toaster was connected to. "Careful… You'll electrocute yourself…" He said softly. He received a glower for being concerned. "… Chipp? Chipp, what's the matter…? Have I done something wrong?"

"No." Came the husky reply as he buttered his toast.

"Oh…" He stared at his bare feet, wiggling his toes. "… Is it because of last night?" He mumbled, blinking up at the ninja, biting his lip.

Chipp's red eyes met Axl's blue ones. He hesitated, seeing how upset he was. He couldn't lie but… He sighed and bit into the toast, leaving it hanging out of his mouth as he sat on the side next to him. He swallowed and shrugged. "Yes and no."

He cocked his head to one side. "Err… yes and no?"

"Well…" He nibbled the edge of the toast, "… I… It's hard to explain."

"I know you have Anji, Chipp… He's a lucky bloke. But last night was nothing to do with it. Besides nothing happened that wasn't supposed to be in a completely friendly way. Nothing else. I'd have done the same for anyone else, you know. You were cold and tired and I wasn't about to let you take any more of those bloody tablets."

Chipp blushed. "What I do is none of your business! Don't be nosey."

"Look. You _know_ I care about you… I didn't deny it; I only said I wouldn't intrude on you and Anji. So I don't like seeing you killing yourself! Especially when I could so something to stop you!" Axl retorted and slid off the side, "If you can't understand that…" He shook his head and forced a smile, "… Hah… Listen to me going on. I should get home..." He turned and disappeared into the living room to get his things. Most of his shopping had been put in Chipp's (rather empty) fridge but didn't want to spend any more time in that kitchen. You could cut the tension with a knife.

He'd tried to hide it, but Chipp had seen that hurt look in his eye.

--

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" He hissed, fingers fumbling over his laces. "How could you be so stupid…! Of course he wouldn't care… Stupid!" He stood up and ran a hand through his already ruffled hair. He looked a state… What would he see in him anyway? "Stupid!"

"Axl…?" Chipp hovered uncertainly by the door.

"Mm?" He flashed him a smile. Yep, that was him, Axl Low, optimism in a nutshell. "I'm sorry but I really have to get going… I don't want to miss my train again…" He picked up his bags, "Well… Thank you for letting me stay at such short notice…" He opened the door, not wanting to hang around where he wasn't wanted, "See you around…!" He hurried out and shut the door behind him, walking as fast as he could down the corridor and stairs.

"Axl! Wait a second!" Chipp threw the door open, yelling after him down the hallway, "You forgot your-" The Brit had gone. He sighed deeply, leaning against the door frame, clutching the other's bandana in one hand.

--

"JOHNNY! THE PHONE'S RINGING!"

Johnny glanced up, "THEN PICK IT UP!" He yelled back through the door, picking up his guitar again.

"IT'S FOR YOU, JOHNNY!"

He sighed and stood up, leaving the guitar where it was and opening the door, "WHO IS IT?"

"AXL!"

"What the… How'd he get my number? BRING THE PHONE TO ME-"

May darted around the corner and held up the phone, "He says it's urgent."

Johnny took the phone, nodded his head in thanks and sat back down at a chair, kicking the door behind him closed. He held the phone up to his ear cautiously, "Hello?"

"Hey, Johnny…"

"How'd you get my number!"

"Yellow pages. Obviously…"

"What's up?"

"Oh Johnny… I'm going mad…"

"Uh-huh. Tell me something I don't know."

"Don't tease me! It's not funny! I'm such a complete idiot… I had to tell someone… Your name came up first in my phone book."

"Well go on then, spit it out. I have things to do."

There was a deep, long sigh. "Well…"

And he told and sighed some more in between. And Johnny listened. He sat up. "Axl, I don't know what to say…"

"… You don't have to _say_ anything. I just needed to tell someone how I felt…"

"To be fair, Axl, you shouldn't have tried coming on to him when he was-"

"I wasn't coming on to him!" He sounded hurt. "I just… wanted to… be close to him for a little while…"

"Tell me something, what were you expecting him to do? Suddenly drop onto his knees and proclaim you were the love of his life? Pull out a white horse and ride off with him?"

"Don't take the piss, Johnny! Chipp doesn't like horses. He told me last night."

"You're a basket case…" Johnny coughed, trying to change the subject when he heard the other sigh. "So… What kind pf pajamas does he wear?"

There was a wicked little chuckle from the other end of the line. "He doesn't wear pajamas. He wears his undies and a t-shirt. Mmm… He has nice legs."

He winced, shaking his head, "Look, I'd _love_ to spend the next three hours talking about Chipp's legs but I have better things to be doing…"

Axl blew a raspberry down the phone, "Oh whatever. I'll talk to myself instead."

With a laugh, he clicked the phone off, standing up and placing the phone on the chair next to his. What a nut case.


	7. An Alliance is Formed

_AA: Hahah, this has taken me a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. X3_

_---_

Not again… She groaned, not even bothering to look up from her newspaper. She could tell, just from the voices in the hallway it was going to be another unbearable evening. Why couldn't they just go out like _normal_ people? Why did they have to stay home and drive her completely round the bend! She was sick of it…

"Baiken! We're hooome! Get us some drinks or something…"

Two people began to laugh. The woman resisted the urge to stamp right out there and strangle the pair of them there and then and clutched the newspaper even tighter, nails ripping through a few pages. "Get it yourselves… Lazy bastards…" She muttered in response, staring straight ahead at the page. Oh, look at that. Wild iguana saves five babies and hamster mascot in nursery fire.

"Oooh, wild iguana saves five kids in a fire!" Chipp leant over her shoulder, hands on his hips, reading it out loud. "Fancy that."

"Get. Away. From. Me." She snarled turning to narrow her eyes at the ninja threateningly.

He backed up nervously, hands up. "Sorry! Geeze…" He crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow arched, a little confidence coming back when he saw her relax again. "Let's hope if there's ever a fire here there aren't any plucky iguanas to rescue _you_"

"That's IT! I'll kill you, you little-"

"ANJI SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!" Chipp dodged her fist and darted into the kitchen, grabbing hold of Anji's sleeve.

Anji blinked, "Er, Chipp? What did-"

Baiken stormed into the kitchen, making for Chipp, "GET HERE NOW!" She shrieked, shoving Anji out of her way.

Her target ducked behind him again, sticking his tongue out before pouting, "Anji, she just came at me! I didn't do anything! I swear she's crazy!"

The dancer laughed, putting an arm around him gently, "Now, now, Baiken… We had words about this…"

Baiken took a deep breath, then sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever." She managed through gritted teeth, stomping back into the living room, hands fist. _Stupid bastard, always picking HIS side, I'll kill 'im one day…_But not any day soon unfortunately. For several reasons. Firstly, she was _not_ about to go down with murder. She and Anji had been lying low for a while now and they'd been doing well hiding their heritage and one annoying little brat wasn't going to expose her. Or Anji, who was the other reason.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was quite fond of him. Well… A little more than…

Urgh. There she was getting all soppy again. Frowning, the woman slumped back down in her chair. Anji seemed to have a similar affect on Chipp too. The usually moody, stubborn ninja was giggly and chatty. Annoying as hell. Just watching him in the kitchen got to her. He was cuddled against Anji's arm, nuzzling his shoulder happily.

Anji ruffled his hair, then blinked, "Hey that's new." He commented, giving the crimson piece of material around his throat a little tug.

Chipp shrugged, "Eh. Yeah. Axl left it at my house."

"Oh?"

"No! It's not like _that_… He stayed over the day before yesterday night. It was stormy, remember? He missed the trains back so I left him stay. I've been meaning to give it back but I haven't seen him recently." He explained, trying to push the events of said night into the corners of his mind, but it was hard; the soft fabric still smelt strongly of his hair.

But as much Baiken wanted to just hold on… She got to her feet and stamped out of the flat, slamming the door behind her so hard loose plaster fell from the ceiling.

--

Axl touched the top of his head. Something was missing… Oh. Yeah. He mumbled gloomily, leaving the house as he was. He felt so… different without his bandana. A nonidentity. Running a hand through his hair, the Brit made his way down the almost deserted street. It was a particularly grey day, even after the storms.

"How could you ever think he could like you, stupid?"

Baiken clenched her fists harder. "How could he ever like that stupid brat!"

"Why can't he like me?" He rounded the corner.

"Why can't he go away!" She rounded the other corner.

"All I want is…" He fell back against the lamp post with a sigh.

"All I want is…" She fell back against the lamp post with a sigh.

"Chipp…"

"Anji…"

Axl paused. Baiken paused.

He glanced round, meeting her gaze straight away.

"You!" They both said simultaneously, jumping back in surprise. The samurai started to tell him where to get off, then stopped. She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You… like Chipp?" She ventured.

He nodded, momentarily dumbstruck. "Um… Yeah… I…" He shook his head and thought back ten seconds, "… And you like Anji?"

Rage (and embarrassment?) flashed across her face for an instant and she thwacked him hard across the head. "Shut up!" She snapped, blushing furiously.

Axl clutched his head, "Oww… Sorry… I… er…" He mumbled through winces, "… I mean… You _don't_ like Chipp?"

Baiken nodded silently in response, still pink.

He stood up straight, smiled almost craftily and put his hands on his hips. "In that case… I feel an alliance is in order."

She thought about it, then smiled back, grimly. "I think it is."


End file.
